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We’re excited to provide free access to 6 of over 500 presentations on Theory of Constraints (TOC). These presentations were selected to provide a brief introduction and description of several major areas of TOC. We have listed below the references and abstracts for the free presentations on this TLS portal. Many consultants argue about which philosophy is the silver bullet BUT the best results is achieved by blending them into one philosophy providing focus on the organization’s leverage points. We hope that these videos illustrate how these philosophies complement each other no matter the environment. At the end of this page are links to the TOC book list segmented by topic areas and an annotated TLS bibliography of TOCICO videos and webinars.

TOC is the best methodology for today BUT there will always be a need for continuous improvement and TLS offers a significant opportunity. These tools are part of the journey to excellent organizations. Our hope is that you’ll learn from these 7 presentations and are moved to join TOCICO to gain access to the rest of our archives.

TOCICO membership includes:

FREE on-line access to all past TOCICO conference videos including over 75 additional TP videos – there are several hundred videos starting with the second conference in 2004. These were previously sold for $149 per conference (totaling $1,788), but now, viewing ALL of them are INCLUDED with your membership.

Discounts on TOCICO products and conference attendance.

FREE access to the over 50 recorded webinars by some of your favorite TOC authors.

FREE registration to all new webinars – and just wait until you hear what’s in the works!

FREE pdf of the TOCICO Dictionary – 135 pages of pure content.

All 6 Strategy & Tactics trees by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Over 20 Theory of Constraints articles with more on the way.

And, access to networking with the TOC community around the world on the TOCICO website. Build your page, start discussions, or contact another member – the new TOCICO website is web 2.0 ready and ready for you to engage.

This presentation provides an overview of theory of constraints, lean and six sigma. A case study is presented where the effects of using the trio of theory of constraints, lean, and six sigma (TLS); lean alone and six sigma alone is conducted. The use of TOC to guide lean and six sigma use was significantly better than either lean or six sigma alone. Lessons learned are also presented. The purpose of the study was to determine how to best optimize profits. To achieve that objective we needed to compare and contrast methodologies and evaluate and statistically quantify the impact of each. Based on the results we wanted to deploy the best method. The results of twenty-one plants were compared: eleven used six sigma, four used lean and six used TLS. The results of comparing lean and six sigma were insignificant. The difference between TLS and lean and six sigma was highly significant (P-value =0.000.). While TLS, lean and six sigma all offered benefits, TLS showed 3.9 times greater financial benefit than the other two. A model of how the three methodologies fit together is provided.

In 2005, Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy. Prior to its merger with North West Airlines, Delta was a $17 billion sales revenue airline with approximately 50,000 employees. After merger in 2008 Delta was a $35 billion top line revenue airline with the same number of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) employees. As part of the bankruptcy plan, engine maintenance was required to reduce cost and inventory while, at the same time, increase productivity. In 2002 the MRO had revenues of $77 million and in 2008 the revenues were $470. The requirements for survival aligned very well with Theory of Constraints--more specifically, critical chain and drum-buffer-rope. The summary of changes includes: create plans with buffers in critical chain and in drum buffer rope; control the work-in-process inventories by controlling release; manage using the buffers, and use exception management. TOC concepts implemented in 2006 were to focus on constraints and improve overall engine maintenance performance using continuous improvement as the growth strategy. Six sigma and lean had previously been implemented. TOC concepts have given a clear understanding of where to apply six sigma and lean methods to achieve true bottom-line results.

This presentation is a case study of Adirondack Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery clinic and their first (achieved by using TOC/lean/six sigma) and second (achieved by using the transformational strategy and tactic (S&T) tree and the decisive competitive edges of reliability and rapid response) Viable Vision. Gary Wadhwa, MD, provided his background in education, in business, operations, lean, six sigma, system dynamics, balanced scorecard, theory of constraints, etc. and how he implemented these tools at his medical practice to transform it from a break-even practice to making several million dollars in profit each year. He discusses the use of throughput accounting and the transformational S&T tree to determine the impact of the product mix on profits and eventually how to free up enough capacity to also do 30-40% pro-bono work while still making high profits.

Moura, E. (2012). Using the TOC TP as a Guide to Integrate Lean, Six Sigma, Process Management and TOC Solutions for Business Improvement. TOCICO International Conference: 10th Annual Worldwide Gathering of TOC Professionals, Chicago, Il, Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization.

The author presents a proven method that uses the theory of constraints (TOC) thinking processes (TP) from undesirable effects (UDEs) to strategy and tactics (S&T) trees to prioritize and integrate strategic business improvement initiatives such as lean, six sigma, process management and specific TOC solutions. Real implementation examples are presented.

Marris, P. (2013). TOC + lean + six sigma’ or TLS. What is it? Is it a threat or an opportunity for TOC? TOCICO International Conference: 11th Annual Worldwide Gathering of TOC Professionals, Bad Nauheim, Germany, Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization.

Is 'TLS' – the integration or combination of TOC (T) with lean (L) and six sigma (S) – a good idea? What does it mean exactly? How do they reinforce each other? What are the incompatibilities? What are the case studies? Is it an opportunity or a threat for the TOC movement? Industrial improvement efforts over the past 20 years have been handicapped by quarrels concerning the relative merits of the different approaches and of the supposed incompatibilities or fundamental differences among them. TLS considers, on the contrary, that we should seek to combine them thereby creating a system that contains the best aspects of each movement. The author, Philip Marris, is the CEO of Marris Consulting, Paris, France. He has implemented TOC with lean and/or six sigma in industry over 50 times in the past 25 years. He manages the 'TLS – TOC, Lean & Six Sigma' LinkedIn discussion group.

Inozu, B. (2013). How to achieve superior performance improvement by integrating constraints management with lean and six sigma: Examples from government, public services and healthcare. International Public Sector Effectiveness Conference 2013, Vilnius, Lithuania, TELE2.

It has been demonstrated that low organizational productivity stems from a variety of root causes such as poor project due date performance, prolonged lead times, de-scoped or cancelled projects, cost and budget overruns. At the same time there are task overloads, poor coordination, severe and chronic multitasking, unclear and conflicting priorities as well as very complex processes. These problems lead to overloaded resources, burn-out and high turnover levels, causing general dissatisfaction, high stress levels, the general feeling of dissatisfaction and low morale of civil servants. Governments worldwide are beginning to see that leading management methodologies, which helped some innovative organizations develop effective solutions, can now produce the results that taxpayers are demanding. Today’s leading performance improvement methodologies are Lean (a systematic approach to eliminate waste), six sigma (a rigorous, data-driven process to eliminate defects), and constraints management (a.k.a. theory of constraints – a breakthrough methodology to identify and manage a system’s constraints). Proper integration of these methodologies results in a very structured, focused approach to process and performance improvement with system-level impact. Constraints management provides the missing element of where to focus improvements which is critical to maximizing the return on investment. In fact, the integration of lean and six sigma with constraints management often yields 10 to 20 times greater returns than by implementing lean and six sigma in isolation.

Our hope is that you will learn from these six presentations and are moved to join TOCICO to gain access to the rest of our archives.

TOCICO membership includes:

FREE on-line access to all past TOCICO conference videos including over 75 additional TP videos – there are several hundred videos starting with the second conference in 2004. These were previously sold for $149 per conference (totaling $1,788), but now, viewing ALL of them are INCLUDED with your membership.

Discounts on TOCICO products and conference attendance.

FREE access to the over 50 recorded webinars by some of your favorite TOC authors.

FREE registration to all new webinars – and just wait until you hear what’s in the works!

FREE pdf of the TOCICO Dictionary – 135 pages of pure content.

All 6 Strategy & Tactics trees by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Over 20 Theory of Constraints articles with more on the way.

And, access to networking with the TOC community around the world on the TOCICO website. Build your page, start discussions, or contact another member – the new TOCICO website is web 2.0 ready and ready for you to engage.